An Example to Follow - Stephanie Gray's Talk at Google

[Video Starts During Q&A Portion] Stephanie Gray responds to a question from the audience during her presentation at Google headquarters.

[Full Presentation] Google's description reads: "Stephanie Gray, internationally renowned speaker and author, applies the Socratic method and storytelling to the debate surrounding abortion. She invites the audience to be 'pro-conversation' on a topic that can be one of the most divisive, and demonstrates that it is possible to be gracious and respectful when encountering different ideas."

We’re ecstatic that our friend, international pro-life speaker Stephanie Gray, has recently been featured by Talks at Google at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California.  In her talk, "Abortion: From Controversy to Civility," Stephanie modeled powerfully how sharing stories, questions, and thought experiments can transform your conversations about abortion.

This whole talk is just over an hour long and is certainly worth watching.  If you'd like to start with a short segment, however, we've highlighted two minutes from the Q&A portion (53:26 - 55:26).  Listen for Stephanie's great advice on starting conversations in a pro-choice environment.* 

In the coming days, we will highlight a few more short segments on our blog and our @7conversations Twitter feed.  However, these upcoming posts will be designed to share so that you can use them to start a conversation of your own.  If you use one of the upcoming posts to create dialogue, let us know how it goes!

Visit www.stephaniegray.info to learn more about Stephanie and her book, Love Unleashes Life: Abortion & the Art of Communicating Truth.

*Note:  Also included in this video clip is a response to the question of abortion in the case of rape.  Stephanie does a great job of compassionately and clearly addressing this topic in the short time format.  In personal conversations about abortion and the question of rape, you'll usually have a bit more time.  For additional suggestions on ways to approach this, see JFA's Abortion: From Debate to Dialogue - The Interactive Guide (pages 20-22).

Rocky Mountain Collegian covers CSU Outreach

JFA staff and volunteers are currently in the midst of a 3-day large-format exhibit outreach, creating dialogue with students at Colorado State University (April 24-26). The Rocky Mountain Collegian covered the first day of the outreach event, yesterday. Click here or on the link below to read the full article, which features quotes from JFA Trainer Certification Program Director, Catherine Wurts.

Please note that several mistakes appear in this article.  For clarification, see below.

If you saw one of JFA's large exhibits at CSU this week, click here to share your opinion or get more information about any of our exhibits.

The annual pro-life exhibit will remain on the plaza until Wednesday. https://t.co/Ah7mtYa5i3 @jenn_yingling

— CSU Collegian (@CSUCollegian) April 25, 2017

Points of Clarification

1) JFA’s first public exhibition at CSU was not last year, but was in 2002. However, our first time showing the “Stop and Think” exhibit was last year.
2) Zach Lee-Watts is a JFA student volunteer rather than a staff member. He is with the JFA team reaching out at CSU this week. 
3) JFA's updated online Fact Sheet reports 926,200 abortions per year in the U.S. (based on a 2014 Guttmacher Institute study).  The paper version of the Fact Sheet used at the CSU outreach had not yet been updated, as the new numbers were just released in March.  The old paper version stated that 1.06 million abortions take place per year in America (based on a 2011 study by the Guttmacher Institute.)  An updated printable version is also available at the link above.
4) To explain the discrepancy between the Guttmacher Institute statistics we report, and the CDC statistics reported in the article, one needs only look in the “Limitations” portion of the CDC study linked in the article. It states:

"The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations. First…CDC is unable to obtain the total number of abortions performed in the United States. During the period covered by this report, the total annual number of abortions reported to CDC was consistently approximately 70% of the number recorded by the Guttmacher Institute, which uses numerous active follow-up techniques to increase the completeness of the data obtained through its periodic national census of abortion providers… for 2013 CDC did not obtain any information from California, Maryland, or New Hampshire."

Live Interview Broadcast Today!

JFA Executive Director, Steve Wagner, will be interviewed Mar. 21st in a live broadcast with Alan Shlemon of Stand to Reason.  Listen to the interview in the first hour of STR's Live Call In Tuesday radio program  (4-5pm PST).  

Click here to listen live online.

Host @AlanShlemon broadcasts live today 4-6pm PST, interviewing Steve Wagner @TrainThousands the first hour. https://t.co/cXHXAHe6oX. pic.twitter.com/Mh0FuSUOVo

— Stand to Reason (@STRtweets) March 21, 2017

JFA's Las Vegas Outreach Makes TV News

WARNING: Graphic Images Included

Click on the picture above to view news coverage of JFA's February 2017 outreach to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). (Warning: Graphic images included.)

This past Wednesday (2-15-2017), the Fox5 Las Vegas news station covered JFA's outreach to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) . The video features JFA Training Specialist Rebecca Haschke.  Click on the image (right) to hear her share one reason JFA uses graphic abortion imagery.

The JFA team ended a busy few days with another outreach to UNLV on Thursday, after holding seminars and outreach events in both Arizona and Nevada earlier in the week.  To view JFA's events coming up next, visit JFA's calendar page. 

Late-Term Abortion? ... Our Open Mic Archives Help You Prepare for the Dialogue

Did you know that you can watch real JFA open mic conversations at our  "Explore Resources" page?  We've even created some questions to help you practice having similar conversations.

VIDEO CLIP: Late-term abortion has been in the news recently.  Here's a dialogue excerpt from the JFA archives to help you prepare for conversations with your friends. *(See parental advisory below.)

• Step 1: Listen to the first thoughts from this student at ASU. Stop the video.
• Step 2: Think of a question you can ask to build common ground with the speaker. Write your ideas in the comments section.
• Step 3: Now listen to the remainder of the video. Did Steve's attempt at common ground succeed?

*Warning: Parental Advisory. 
The audio/video clips of JFA's Open Mic sessions contain unedited free speech audio and portions include profanity and frank discussion of sexuality.  If you are under the age of 18, please invite your parents to preview this material and approve it for your listening.  Once they've reviewed it, you might invite them to listen along with you!  These clips provide great opportunities for discussing what you think about life before birth, pregnancy, and abortion.

The Student Becomes the Trainer

Impact Report: November 2015

Keawe shares the JFA Brochure during outreach events at the University of North Texas in 2014 (above) and the University of Oklahoma in 2015 (below).

I looked into a crowd of 200 faces on October 1, as I prepared to deliver a chapel presentation to grades 7-12 at Christian Heritage Academy (CHA) in Oklahoma.  In the eight years since I was a high school student sitting in a similar high school auditorium, I've talked with many friends and acquaintances facing unplanned pregnancies or struggling with past abortion decisions.  I hoped that this morning I could inspire these teens to get equipped for similar interactions, knowing that they might make the difference for the little ones whose lives will be in the balance in their friends' wombs all too soon. 

Not only did Keawe give this pro-life OU student ways to respond to pro-choice concerns, he even went a step further and began to step into the pro-choice role so that the pro-life student could get a chance to practice the conversation.  Interactive practice is vital to JFA’s educational philosophy, and Keawe had caught the vision. 

He caught that vision so well, in fact, that the next day he was even able to help a few of his classmates to begin putting their thoughts into words when they were stumped in a conversation.  Instead of jumping in and taking the conversation over for them, he helped them stay in the conversation and “learn by doing.”

Two of my high school colleagues decided…to try the survey approach.

One of the two was a bit shyer and had less experience, so I accompanied them just to help out in case they ran into any confusing conversations.  At first I just sat on a nearby bench to watch…  Once they had reached the end of the survey [with one woman], the two administering it hit a bit of a snag as they seemed unsure how to continue the conversation. 

“JFA training staff made 65 presentations to 4,313 people in 2015.”

Seeing the unscheduled dramatic pause, I gingerly got up off the bench and walked over to join the conversation…  Since I had been listening to the answers the woman had given during the survey, I readdressed one of the situations in which she had said she would be okay with abortion; however I didn’t correct her…  [Instead, I presented] her ideas in ways that my peers were able to recognize [those ideas] as common pro-choice arguments [so that my peers could offer a] rebuttal.  By the end of the conversation, we were able to clear up any confusion the woman had had, and she agreed with us on all points.

CHA students and JFA staff members pause after a day of  outreach at the University of Oklahoma in March 2015. Keawe is in the first row, second from right.

“251 volunteers participated in a JFA “Feet Work” outreach event for the first time in 2015.”

When Keawe shared these stories, I was astonished by his ability to converse with pro-choice advocates, but I was even more astonished by how he had caught the vision for training others.  This should not have surprised me, though, since JFA had given me the very same gift when I was Keawe’s age.  JFA training was what originally equipped me for dialogue, gave me opportunities to practice good conversations, and inspired me to take on the responsibility of training others.  It’s simply what JFA does.

“JFA conducted 36 days of outreach on 15 college campuses in 2015.”

This year, JFA trainers started this process with 4,313 people at 65 presentations and workshops, by convicting the hearts of young and old alike about the inhumanity of abortion and the need to create a different kind of conversation about abortion.  We took that a step further with 728 participants at 32 seminars, equipping them for dialogue through hours of teaching and interactive practice.  Finally, 251 people took the critical step of creating dialogue with pro-choice advocates at a JFA campus outreach event for the first time, and this prepared them to create conversations in their own spheres of influence.  It’s a joy to see that for Keawe the process came full circle as he began equipping others to make abortion unthinkable. 

- Joanna Wagner, for the JFA Team

Comment

Keawe’s inclination to take what he had learned from JFA and help other pro-life advocates tells us something about his personality and his upbringing, but it also tells us about the encouragement and training he received through the Salt and Light program at his high school, Christian Heritage Academy (CHA).  The Salt and Light team endeavors to “train American Christian leaders for every sphere of society,” and we’ve been privileged to partner with CHA and its Salt and Light program since 2007.  Salt and Light Director Aaron Ferguson has said, “JFA is the best thing we do as a school.”  We’re gratified to hear that, because we think partnering with the CHA community to train world-changers like Keawe is one of the best things we do!

- Steve Wagner, Executive Director